How To Be a MAC Basketball Fan: For Beginners

I was never really a fan of basketball. I mean, I was a Pistons fan back when Chauncey Billups, "Rip" Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Rasheed and Ben Wallace were the coolest starting five in the NBA. I know I was a fan that year because we beat the Lakers in the NBA Championship.

But then players started to leave. Free agency. Trades. Sports stuff. I didn't understand roster moves until then, which brought a real nasty first impression with me once I had to learn how to watch basketball after they all split up. It's a bad grudge to hold, but I ended up quitting being a basketball fan my sophomore year of high school and told myself I'd never look back.

Then I went to college.

Attendance sucked, but I didn't have to worry about where I would sit stand during basketball games with my school-spirited shirt on with a few buddies of mine. And we didn't wait until five minutes before the game started to get there because seating wasn't a problem, we'd still go and eat some nachos during shoot-arounds. And we heckled the shit out of literally anybody on the opposing team.

Don't worry, we were nice.

Drew McGhee, all I remember is that he played for Miami and had a beard.

Some fan bases around the MAC are magnificent. Others, eh. Other others, not good. If you want to know why people enjoy this brand of basketball, go to the games. If you want a great college experience, go to the games. If you have pride in your school, go to the games. If you don't want people to complain about how nobody ever goes to games, go to the games. Go to the games.

A lot of bigger MAC basketball fans go to the games regularly. Many have already graduated from that school, or they're just locals that enjoy going to the games. You might be one of those people. I used to be intimidated by those people because they know way more than I do and I cannot keep up with the pace of this conversation.

Don't worry, we've all been there.

Luckily over here on the 'Belt, we're previewing all of the teams, keeping up with the exhibition games, and we've even made a countdown of our top 25 MAC men's shooty hoops players from Darrel Bowie to Juice Brown.

And hey, sometimes your team will be on the road. That's why you have us for all of your MACtion needs. When your Falcons or Eagles or RedHawks are on the road to Toledo or Central Michigan or Northern Illinois, you can always come check this site out for a live chat. We love good commentary, and it's nice to have a community to talk to about these sorts of things.

Nearly none of us have been MAC basketball die-hard fans at the point of conception. If you have, more power to you. But we all have our own stories that started making us really love this basketball. You know my story, so it's time for you, the new fan, to write your own story.